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Just got the engine back in after doing a HG/reseal job. Ran fine for a few days on blocks, then the tach decided to start jumping around. It always matches the engine RPM while it's running. Most of the time it will run fine until I put some load on the engine by turning on the AC, etc. At first it seemed like it ran out of gas, but even after adding more it didn't help it.

While trying to start the car when it isn't working, the tach will jump all the way around and peg itself. There is also no spark from the coil.

There is NO slop or play in the distributer bushings that I (or a friend) can feel. I've replaced the coil with one from another of my other cars to no difference. I put the coil from this car in the other car, and it runs just fine. So, it shouldn't be the coil. I cleaned all the grounds while I was at it also.

To test the distributer, I've taken the distributor out of the engine but left it plugged in so I can manually trigger the coil by spinning the rotor, without turning over the engine. This works most of the time. Using cougars advice from another thread, I monitored the voltage at the neg side of the coil, and most of the time it changes with the spinning rotor.

I've also checked all the wiring from the ECU to both the distributer and the coil, and it checks out fine.

any ideas?

thanks in advance-Dave

ps, sorry for the long winded description

edit: did some more tinkering this evening...After making it fail by adding a load, I turned the engine off, then disconnected the coil wire. I placed the coil wire by ground to watch it spark. I turned the engine over by hand with the key on, and it would occasionally spark like it should.

later today I'm going to try swapping the disty out with one from another car. I'll have to take the connectors off and swap them though, should be fun

Looking at the WD's, I don't see a physical path between the dist to the coil, except thru the ECM... as I would expect. Because the transistor on the coil amplifies the dist pulse via the ECM, and not directly from the dist, I believe your problem would likely be on the coil side of the ECM, wouldn't it?.... maybe even the transistor itself, or possibility the (gulp!) the ECM. Personally, I'd suspect the tach signal source wire. Have been under the dash yet?

BTY Hoozie, what years CAS will interchange on my '87 SPFI - EA82? Wire colors are obviously different between some years, but what about potentual differences in the opti triggers? '87 supplies here in Idaho appears to have dried-up. I might need a ECM also as i'm getting 500mv from the (body side) of the CAS connector (the black wire). Thought it was suppost to be a ground? ~putt~

Same thing.. Although it did take longer to die with the good alternator

Like before, after the tach/engine jumped around and died, I took the coil wire off and cranked the engine by hand. It would occasionally spark, where it should spark often with each quarter turn of the engine.

So to recap...
-new coil
-new alternator
-clean grounds
still jumps around and dies

I have another disty but with a different connector. I could swap it in if I have to, although I'm going to wait until it cools off out there (fricken hot in the sun, I need a garage)

about the idle, it's also saying the IAC is broken, but the relay is just fine and I've cleaned it out(??). regardless, I should be able to keep the RPMs around 2000-3000 and not have it die when I turn on the AC.

Welp the tach is wired directly into your ignition circut; so we kinda have it narrowed down. Got another ignition amp thingamajig to swap on? Its the dealybob on the coil bracket there that makes you go "huh?" when you look at it

Welp the tach is wired directly into your ignition circut; so we kinda have it narrowed down. Got another ignition amp thingamajig to swap on? Its the dealybob on the coil bracket there that makes you go "huh?" when you look at it

I know... I'm very technical

guess I forgot to mention that when I swapped coils, I swapped the whole assembly, including the ignition amp thingy.

This morning when it was cool out it ran long enough to warm up (even had the AC on), then it sputtered and died Could this somehow be related to the CTS? I just tried to start it again (90+ *F out) and it did not want to start.

I also checked continuity on all wires from the disty/ignition amp to the ECU, and they're fine (or just didn't break even while I wiggled them around).

I have to take my 91 loyale down for a couple days to replace the water pump (see my boom goes the radiator hose thread) and can swap the disty out if I need to. I'm assuming the distys are the same inside. I may take the 91's apart just to make sure though.

so, it starts when cold, but dies when warmed up? That is exactly what my lawnmower was doing - and it had a bad coil. Do you have a spare to check to see if yours is good? I know you said it's new, but I have gotten new parts that ended up bad on many occasions............just a thought........